Challenges (Revision 800)

Challenges are numerical goals of specific events in the game. You earn some petty cash for doing each one, but given that there are 41 total, the total amount of profit adds up.

Unlike Assassinations, Vehicle Thefts, and Activities, progress toward all challenges occurs at all times. For example, you will be constantly gaining the Distance Traveled challenge simply by doing anything but standing still. Therefore, several challenges will probably get completed just in the course of you playing the game, but there are some you may have to look out for.

Not all challenges are unlocked from the beginning. For example, the Emus Destroyed challenge is given to you by Oleg, and your character has no idea who he is prior to The Belgian Problem. It won't be very deep into Act 2 Missions when they'll all unlock, however.

We'll give you some advice in completing each challenge, but you probably don't want to force it. If you're going through the campaign for the first time, don't worry about going out of your way: there will be plenty of time after the credits roll and you get total freedom to finish up if you're a completionist.

Listed here are all the challenges alphabetically, rather than the order they appear in the game, since they'll hop around as you complete them. The number listed next to the challenge title is how many things you need to finish it.

Basejumps Nailed (15)

Get onto any high building, then jump off the roof. You'll automatically be prompted to open your chute. Do so, then hit the action button again when prompted to set a basejump target. If you get anywhere inside it, this will count.

Big Air Distance (5000 feet)

This counts when you've got a ground vehicle in the air off a ramp or just falling off a building. Bikes are best for this, especially around the airport runway where you can build up some crazy speed.

Boats Destroyed (25)

Self-explanatory. It's easily done if you do activities and other diversions, but if you blitz the story, you may not get it. Simply head to any set of docks and just explode everything you see to top it off.

Car Torpedo Total Damage (2000)

A car torpedo is when you dive out of a moving car, and the car runs over people. Drive on a sidewalk, then bail... or, conversely, gain a high notoriety, then drive along until you see a roadblock, then dive out before you get to it. Any damage you do to yourself counts toward this challenge as well, but you'll gain much more by using this trick in a crowded area.

Cars Destroyed (300)

This counts when you destroy any ground vehicle other than tanks and bikes. This is incredibly easy to achieve in the course of the story, especially with the final few missions. The Mayhem, Tank Mayhem, and Survival challenges are all great places for racking up car explosions quickly. Heli Assault also involves blowing up a lot of vehicles.

Carjackings (250)

Simply divest a driver of their vehicle and drive away. Carjackings count for any vehicle, not just cars, but it only counts if the vehicle is occupied at the time.

Compliments Paid (50)

Self-explanatory and effortless. Go to anyone -- cops, civilians, any gang members including your own -- and hit Right on the d-pad.

Decker Specialists Killed (50)

Kill the rollerskating teleporting Deckers to add up here. Get a two-star notoriety to draw them in. Note that once you take over all Decker territory (they only control a small section of the map in the northwest), Deckers won't spawn there any longer. In such event, you'll need to milk Survival challenges, vehicle thefts, and other opportunity to rack up gang notoriety while in former Decker territory.

Distance Traveled (2,500,000 feet!)

This goes up whenever you're moving at all, regardless of method. If you play through the entire game without cheating, play all the missions, take over all territories, and otherwise go for 100%, you'll probably get this in time. If it's the very last thing you need to do, hop in a VTOL and do some laps around the islands.

Emus Destroyed (50)

Emus are the smallest four-wheeled vehicles in the game. They're easy to spot once you know what to look for, and they can't take much damage before exploding. If you see one and you're not on a time limit, just hop out of the car and blow it up. When you get called to do a survival challenge against mascots, you will have a fine opportunity to both rack up mascot kills and destroy lots of emus.

Gang Members Taunted (50)

This only counts when you taunt enemy gang members; it doesn't count taunting civilians, Saints, or cops. Run up to a rival gang member who isn't actively attacking you, then press Left on the d-pad. Preferably, you can do this in the middle of a group, which will taunt all of them with a single press of the d-pad.

This one can get annoying because, as soon as you taunt someone, he'll immediately start to attack you and induce notoriety. You'll have to shake that off before trying to taunt anyone else again, because taunting doesn't work to someone who's already trying to shoot you in the face. Having a homie with you simplifies things, because they will kill the pesky gang member for you, and that will not increase your notoriety.

This should be done before completing area takeovers, as there will no longer be any gang members to taunt who aren't already hostile.

Gang Ops Defeated (32)

There are 32 gang operations in the game across the islands. Each one can be shut down to earn control of a hood, so if you're aiming to takeover the whole city, you'll get this one in time. Some gang operations are linked to the story.

Grenade Kills (50)

Self-explanatory, and easy to achieve in the course of the story. The Mayhem activity often supplies limitless grenades.

Headshots (500)

Self-explanatory. This one isn't necessarily automatic: you'll need to aim a bit to pull it off. This only counts as a headshot if it's a killshot too: unloading a magazine into a Brute's face won't help.

Helicopters Destroyed (60)

Self-explanatory. You'll probably destroy about 30 or so in the course of going through the story unless you really went all-out. To get the rest, it's most efficient to upset the Morningstar, since at three-start notoriety, they'll send in helicopters and and snipers to take you out. Choppers are easy to kill, preferably with the rocket launcher, but the rifle and SMG works almost as well, especially when upgraded. Heli Assault, Mayhem, Tank Mayhem, and survival challenges can all be great places to rack up helcopter kills.

Hoods Explored (18)

It's pretty much impossible not to do this in the course of the story.

Hostages Taken (50)

This counts when you carjack a vehicle that has passengers in it, and you start the hostage diversion by pressing the Action button when prompted. You do not need to successfully complete the diversion, but it must at least be started. Don't have any homies with you, or they will toss the passengers out.

Human Shields Used (150)

Self-explanatory. Unlike many of the combat-oriented challenges, this one can be fulfilled just by grabbing civilians.

Kill Brutes

Self-explanatory. This will almost definitely happen over the course of the story, but it'll be solidified with doing a few Survival challenges and Mayhem activities.

Luchadore Specialists Killed (50)

Kill the grenade-shooting fat Luchadores to pass this challenge. Get a two-star notoriety to draw them to you. The same advice regarding Deckers specialists also applies here; dont' take their presence for granted before you complete city takeovers that will eliminate them from spawning.

Mascots Killed (200)

Mascots are anyone dressed in any sort of costume, from the Saints Energy Drink to animal costumes. Playing Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax is a good way to get this up since that's all you'll be facing in the murder room.

Morningstar Specialists Killed (50)

Kill snipers to pass this challenge. Get a three-star notoriety to draw them to you.

Multi-Kills (500)

This sounds when you kill multiple people with one specific attack. Explosives are basically required, and carpet bombing an area will help add this up. Destroying vehicles usually results in multi-kills too. Mayhem, Tank Mayhem, and Survival challenges can offer nearly non-stop opportunities for multi-kills.

Near Misses (500)

You'll most assuredly get this by the end of the story. When you drive down a road, try to go down the exact center between two lanes, and you'll rack up Near Misses on both sides.

No-Weapons Kills (25)

Self-explanatory. It's fastest to approach a target, then hitting Heavy Attack. This will induce a quick-time event, and unless you completely blow it, you'll kill the target and add to the challenge. This only counts when fighting rival gang members and cops, not civilians or Saints.

Nut Shots (25)

A "nut shot" only counts when it's the kill shot. Some enemies can be one-hit killed, but it's tough to really aim for it, especially because it doesn't count if you nut-shot a civilian. It's easiest to do if you're not really trying: arm yourself with an automatic weapon, aim in the genital vicinity, and pull the trigger. You'll probably get 25 before the end of the story if you're aiming there, rather than aiming for headshots.

Oncoming Lane Distance (100,000 feet)

You'll probably have to go a bit out of your way for this one. Drive against traffic as much as you can; if you do so as much as possible for all story missions, you might clear it before you're out of Act 2.

People Run Over (500)

Drive on the sidewalks when going from mission to mission, and you'll fill this one easily. Honestly, you'll probably fill this one either way because of all the murders you're sure to commit, especially in Trail BlazingActivities.

Powerslide Time (300 seconds)

Take every single turn you come to at speed and tap the Drift button as you do so. Half-seconds help out even if it doesn't seem so, so several hundred quick turns will eventually get this. If you want to force it, drive to the airport and just drive back and forth on the tarmac, powersliding at each end.

Shortcuts Found (50)

Unless you constantly follow all the rules of the road and stick to your GPS route like a granny trying to get to Old Country Buffet, you'll eventually get this in the course of the story. To force it, constantly look for alleys to cut through blocks to jump the GPS routes.

STAG Commandos Killed (25)

Self-explanatory, you'll get this when killing the heavily armored enemies at the end of the game. You'll get this probably just from completing the final mission.

Stores Robbed (15)

To rob a store, when you're free of notoriety, get in any store, then use fine aim against the clerk behind the counter until he or she dumps some money on you.

The easiest way to do this is to buy two stores near each other. Rob one, then run over to the other to shed your notoriety. Rob that one, then go back to the first one and rob it again. Keep it up, and you'll get this in no time.

Streaking Time (600 Seconds)

Head to your crib or any clothing store, then enter your wardrobe. Go to "Outfits," then select "Remove All Clothing." Now, the mere act of walking around doesn't count. Once outside, you need to double-tap Down on the d-pad to officially start the streaking diversion. At that point, as long as the diversion is active, it will add to the time. You can achieve the 600 total seconds in any number of streaking sessions.

Stoppies

Build up some speed on a motorcycle, then hit the brakes (regular brakes, not handbrakes) while continuing to direct the bike forward. This should cause it to tilt up onto its front wheel and spin about a bit. The Kenshi is far better for this than the Estrada.

Survival Completed (26)

When you're standing around doing nothing between missions, your cell may ring. If you answer it, you have to drive to an indicated district and survive multiple waves of enemies. This is incredibly difficult due to the sheer number of enemies you'll be facing, yet it gets progressively easier as you get deep into the game and have a bunch of Upgrades. Wait until then, especially when you can afford something like Bullet Damage Reduction 4, which makes you invincible to bullets.

Tanks Destroyed (25)

Self-explanatory. If you blitz the story, you may not get it, but you'll be close. Just anger the cops enough and tanks will be sent after you.

Two-Wheel Distance (2500 feet)

You'll probably get this in due course during the story. It's easier to achieve with faster, lighter cars since even hitting a curb will probably get you on two wheels for a while. However, even heavier vehicles will work out. For example, if you're driving an SUV or APC and hit something, you'll probably tilt back onto your back wheels, which will count for this challenge.

Vehicle Mod Spending ($20,000)

Self-explanatory, but it counts whether you're doing body mods or colors. You'll get this in due course over the game unless you stick with only a couple cars and never branch out.

Vehicle Surfing Time (600 Seconds)

Start this diversion by standing in the middle of the street until a car stops. Then, jump onto its roof, and hit the action button when prompted to start. You'll grab onto the roof and try to maintain balance as the car speeds down the street. Do this for 600 seconds total across any number of sessions to pass.

Wheelie Distance (10,000 feet)

The best bike for this is the Kenshin since you can't accidentally fall backwards on it. Drive to the airport, then just wheelie back and forth on the runway until you get it.

Windshield Cannon Distance (1000 feet)

To fire yourself out of a car as a windshield cannon, drive any car as fast as possible into any unbreakable obstacle. Bikes don't count, but sports cars are the best since they can get up to speed so quickly. It's best to aim for something like a guard rail since you can fly over it, rather than a building since you'll just splat into the wall and not really get much flight time.

This is best done in Insurance Fraud, because the physics are modified and will launch you further.